CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Spring break season is almost here, and one of the top destinations is closer than you may think.
A new AAA study ranks the Queen City as one of the top 10 domestic spring break travel destinations. While Charlotte doesn’t have the beach or mountains, tourism leaders said it’s close by, so people are using the city as an anchor for their trips.
“Whitewater Center, Discovery Place, Levine Center for the Arts, a great, thriving culinary scene, so there’s so much to build your getaway around,” said Laura White with the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.
Those are just a few of the many attractions drawing about 32 million visitors to Charlotte per year. Of those, about 54% are visiting family and friends.
“They want to have an amazing meal or two,” said White. “They want to go see a couple of really cool attractions. They want to go hit up some breweries.”
Others are choosing the Queen City as a destination. They’re staying in hotels, eating at restaurants and shopping at shops, but possibly driving to nearby areas.
“You can take a day trip to Asheville,” said Charlotte City Councilman Malcolm Graham, who chairs the city’s economic development committee. “You can take a day trip to the beach, or you can stay right here in Charlotte.”
Ninety percent of Charlotte’s visitors are traveling by car, even though plenty of traffic comes through Charlotte Douglas International.
City leaders are doing what they can to make sure Charlotte stays a top travel spot.
“Really continue to work on the affordability of the community in reference to our housing,” said Graham. “Making sure that it’s really easy to get back and forth through great public transportation.”
Tourism leaders told Queen City News they spend about $8 million per year marketing Charlotte as a weekend getaway, so to get this recognition as a top spring break destination is very exciting.
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